RepairLabs has published images of the inside rear shell of what is claimed to be the upcoming iPad 3. It looks like the logic board may be getting streamlined to free up some space. MacRumors is speculating that it could be room for some extra battery juice.

This brings us to new leaks today that actual show the backside of the alleged iPad 3. As you can see from the attached image below, the iPad 3 is pretty much going to look exactly like the iPad 2. Cult of Mac has a giant gallery of parts that are apparently from the upcoming iPad.

Looks a lot like the current iPad, doesn’t it. That being said, a Retina Display, more power under the hood, and extra battery life are all reason enough for me to sell my current iPad 2, and buy a new one. So, who’s in the market for an iPad 2?

Macgasm - Apple Tips, Apple News, Apple Everything.

From All Things D:

A lot of people are really hoping that this version of the iPad would be a complete redesign based on Apple’s approach to iPhone releases. It sounds a lot like that won’t be happening this time around, and we don’t mind one bit. Recent case leaks have emerged today, and they look almost identical to the current iPad 2. We’re not sure how legitimate those case pictures are, but they look exactly how we expect them to moving forward.

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The site relies on an ActiveGS emulator that you will need to install, but that’s just the price you’re gonna have to pay to get access to the golden gems like Oregon Trail, Strip Poker, and a host of other timeless classics. Just don’t blame us when you get fired for screwing around at work.

Hat tip to Magadget over on Reddit

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There’s doing it, and then there’s doing it right. It’s pretty clear that Dave Morin immediately realized Path’s misstep and took immediate action to clean up the security concerns that its users had with the company storing contacts. Starting today, in version 2.0.6, users are now being asked if they would like to upload contacts to the company’s servers. The process is now opt-in, not automagically uploaded behind your back. It’s a small win, but a win nonetheless for iPhone users.

Yes, it’s a small win. Why? Path is hardly the first, and they certainly won’t be the last service that takes iPhone users’ contact information to provide better friend recommendations within a service. For some reason, Path was the lightning rod for all that pent up security anger that consumers have been harboring for the last couple of years. Facebook’s app currently does it, although they give you a disclaimer. But, God knows what Facebook is doing with that information. In the summer of 2010, Lookout published a study that found that one-third of the apps tested (300,000) on both Android and iPhone not only phoned home, but also transmitted contact lists, or retrieved a user’s location. The App Genome Project (February 2011) has recently found that 11 percent of apps on Apple’s App Store have the ability to access users’ contacts.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s really never a good excuse for accessing personal contacts, or even uploading them without the knowledge of a user. The practice shouldn’t happen, ever. That being said, Path is far from the only big name application that does this to its users.

We didn’t run the article yesterday because Path was just the tip of the iceberg for this problem. We’ve gotten some questions about why we decided not to run it. The short of it was we were giving Path some time to reply. The long of it is that it just didn’t feel right kicking Path underneath the bus that so many other apps ride these days. The whole bus needs to be disassembled instead of one company getting kicked off the ride.

We’re glad Path took the steps necessary to quickly eliminate the problem, but we’re more concerned about all the applications out there that do this that we’re not aware of at this point. If anything, Apple needs to start forcing developers to ask users if they’re comfortable with sending contacts to their servers. Apple requires publishers using Newsstand to have readers opt-in to information sharing, so why isn’t it happening in a market place where anyone can develop and upload an application? We’re skeptical about major publishers having access to contacts, but man, it freaks us out to know that a company like Zynga, or even a random high school kid down the street could  completely misuse our contacts, and gain from it financially in some way.

That’s the problem here, not Path. The problem is that somewhere along the way this practice was not only occurring, but that it’s continually being allowed to happen. That needd to change. Props goes out to Path for changing the practice. We love them for it.

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We’re going to let you discover the rest of the update goodness on your own.

The app update is free for anyone who has purchased the original Tweetbot, so you don’t have to worry about paying an additional couple of dollars to gain access to the update.

Tweetbot is easily my favorite Twitter app for the iPhone, and even more so now that Twitter decided to completely bastardize its own offerings earlier this year. Normally we’d suggest trying out a free alternative for Twitter, like the free Twitterific option, but Tweetbot is easily worth the $2.99 on the App Store. I paid the fee, and I haven’t made a switch yet, which is highly unusual for me when it comes to iOS apps.

Quick Look At Some Updated Features

Quick Update: Tweetbot is now available for the iPad too… we’re putting it through the paces and we’ll have an update here for you when it’s ready.

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The speaker lasts between 5 – 10 hours depending on how you’re using it. The speaker will set you back $55.00 and you can buy it on the Austrailian website ModLifeOnline.

To be honest, this probably won’t last too long on the market once Apple’s lawyers find it, so make sure you pick it up as fast as possible if you want it.

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According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Apple has gone on the record stating that, “the telecommunications industry lacks consistent licensing schemes for the many patents necessary to make mobile devices, and offered suggestions for setting appropriate royalty rates that all members would follow.” Long story short, Apple wants a fair and open approach to licensing technology that has become standard in the mobile telecommunications industry. Currently, it could become very difficult for competing companies to gain access to the necessary patent licenses to release a mobile phone.

Apple wants the EU and ETSI to set clear rules about how patent licenses are negotiated, and to ensure that companies working on and developing standard-centric licenses agree to license patents under FRAND terms.

In the original article, it’s pretty clear that Apple, and more specifically Apple’s intellectual property head Bruce Watrous, is worried that the current system gives patent holders a huge advantage in negotiating patent licenses because competing products could be forced to remove products from the market place due to injunctions. Apple’s legal team wants injunctions to be abolished under FRAND terms.

The EU is currently investigating both Samsung and Motorola’s patent licensing practices for anti-competitive behaviour.

If you’re interested in reading up more on this topic, you can give the Wall Street Journal article a read, but sadly, it’s behind a paywall.

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From the Washington Post:

If I was in the US, that unlimited data plan would be mighty enticing. It always blows my mind just how obvious it is that customers want the freedom of an unlimited plan, but carriers absolutely refuse to give it to them. I rarely use over 2GB on my data plan, and I’d still go for an unlimited option if it was available to me. The irony is that it’s not about the data being unlimited as much as it is about not wanting my carrier to clean out my bank account for going over once or twice a year.

If you’re interested in the ins and outs of the Sprint financial call, the company has posted a news release online for you to look through.

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From The Globe and Mail:

That’s really the only new information in the entire article, which eventually goes on to rehash all the rumors we’ve heard around the Internet the last couple of months.

Curious about the veracity of the claims? We are too. If Apple is trying to get companies like Rogers and Bell to partner with the company to bring content to its new-age television viewing device, they would at some point have to get their hands on it. That being said, hands-on would be extremely limited, and only occur at the highests levels, making it unlikely that information would leak from Rogers or Bell. Apple sends out iPhone models to carriers before the phones are released on networks, but they’re extremely locked down, and provide very little detail about what the phones look like. The same would happen with these televisions, if they actually exist.

Rogers and Bell aren’t the first companies to be approached either. It was reported earlier this year that CBS’s CEO let it slip that Apple was approaching networks to get content locked up for the Apple Television. With all the chatter, it certainly sounds like Apple’s out there trying to make deals before an Apple Television gets released. It could be a while though; there’s no timeline or indication of when a product could ship.

Read Rogers, BCE vying for a bite of Apple’s iTV on The Globe and Mail

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Apparently this isn’t the first punch thrown in this fight either. Last year Apple sued Proview Shenzhen to gain rights to the iPad name, but lost the lawsuit in court.

From China.org.cn:

We thought we’d seen it all, but it turns out we haven’t. The timing of the lawsuit is advantageous considering the explosion of Apple popularity in China recently.

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In this week’s episode we sit down with N-Product co-founder Dom Coballe to talk about the Deckster iPod nano timepieces.

The iWatch case from N-Product is built with a variety of materials, and made by hand, and it’s entirely designed, produced, and assembled in North America. Some of the straps are designed using recycled material like bike tire rubber, inner tube rubber, as well as leather.

[Download][Direct Feed][iTunes]

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The quote has got me thinking a little bit about search engines and where that kind of technology is heading in the future. Aggregating results from the Internet and providing results to the webizens isn’t something that’s going to disappear any time soon, but the way we interact with a search engine is changing dramatically. With spam results both from SEO spammers and Google prioritizing its own results within a search, honest, unbiased, and valuable results are rarely being prioritized on the native Google search results page these days. Siri, and by extension, any application, can reach out and take advantage of multiple search databases, and provide users with relevant results, without ever having to visit the Wolfram Alpha website, or Google.

The steps taken by Apple to get Siri access to important information is pretty genius, and it’s undoubtably redefining the way we use search engines and get results. Instead of relying on one source, like Google, for all of your results, Siri could reach out to different services to gain access to search results. For instance, looking for a new music album? Siri could reach out to iTunes or Spotify, or any other service of your choice. Looking to rent a new movie? Siri could return results from Netflix. Want to read some new Apple news? Hell, Siri could reach out to Macgasm and search our database for results. In every one of these cases it would be almost impossible for SEO spammers to game the system for better search results, and in every one of these cases, Siri would get more accurate results directly from a service that specializes in the information Siri is looking for instead of relying on generalized services like Google. Siri is already reaching out to Yelp for its restaurant location-based recommendations, what’s to stop it from doing something similar for other popular requests in music, film, or news?

Apple is actually directly competing with Google doing what it does best, piecing together existing technologies into a more intuitive and usable service. Search just got a whole lot more interesting, if you ask us.

Read Wolfram, a Search Engine, Finds Answers Within Itself on The New York Times

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Buddy Beers iPhone app from Buddy Beers on Vimeo.

The service lets you buy beers for friends at partner bars worldwide using paypal or in app currency. The application creates a voucher that you can use at the bar. Sounds like you’ll be sipping on those delicious, free golden brews in no time.

Not so fast, there’s probably a downside

This app, like plenty of “deals” and “discount” apps before it, will have a hard time getting off the ground. Bartenders will be looking at your voucher like you’re from another planet, and they’ll likely accuse you of trying to get free beer. Buddy Beers isn’t the only service to have this problem. Just ask FourSquare how many problems they had when customers would try to redeem a reward from within the app. Standing in line at a popular coffee chain, I won a free drink. It took me a heck of a lot time and energy to convince the staff that I had won. A couple of phone calls up the chain later, I was walking out the door with my beverage. Something tells me this is going to be more of the same. It’s going to be a while before employees and staff at pubs and bars realize what’s going on, and accept a voucher for a free beer. But hey, you’ve got to start somewhere, and this is a service I can get behind.

It’s cool, and hopefully it catches on. I wouldn’t mind you guys sending me free beers all the time. You’d do that for me, right?

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The AndrewMFilms group has put together a hilarious video of Siri going absolutely psychotic, killing people. No, seriously. Killing people. No joke. Siri is now a certifiable psychopath. Screw Chucky. Siri’s my new nightmare.

Check out the fun video.

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According to a press release filed by Honeywell, seven patents are being infringed upon:

• U.S. Patent No. 7,634,504 – “Natural Language Installer Set Up for Controller”
• U.S. Patent No. 7,142,948 – “Controller Interface with Dynamic Schedule Display”
• U.S. Patent No. 7,584,899 – “HVAC Controller”
• U.S. Patent No. 7,159,789 – “Thermostat with Mechanical User Interface”
• U.S. Patent No. 7,159,790 – “Thermostat with Offset Drive”
• U.S. Patent No. 7,476,988 – “Power Stealing Control Devices”
• U.S. Patent No. 6,975,958 – “Profile Based Method for Deriving a Temperature Setpoint Using a ‘Delta’ Based On Cross-Indexing a Received Price-Point Level Signal.”

Beth Wozniak, president of Honeywell, has gone on the record stating: “Competition is good and we welcome it, but we will not stand by while competitors, large or small, offer products that infringe on our intellectual property … From our iconic ’round thermostat’ to the first programmable and simple-to-use touch screen thermostats, Honeywell is known for setting the standard in home comfort and energy efficiency.”

We’re all for companies and lawyers protecting intellectual property, but at some point we all need to sit down and figure out whether or not this patent system is doing more damage to innovation than it’s worth. We’re pumped about the Nest. Heck, we’ve even done a review on it. Sadly, I can’t say the same for Honeywell.

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According to CNET, Audience, a company responsible for a chip in the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S that reduces voice noise, has a newer chip in the iPhone 4S called “EarSmart” that makes Siri possible.

From CNET:

The EarSmart technology works by processing audio, enhancing and isolating “primary voice signals”, and then suppressing the surrounding noise. Long story short, without the EarSmart chip in the iPhone 4S, Siri has a hard time distinguishing exactly what it is you’re trying to say. The technology works on the iPhone 4, as hacks have shown, but the results aren’t nearly as flawless as they are on the iPhone 4S.

It sounds pretty concrete now that Siri will not be available on the iPhone 4 any time soon, considering the phone lacks important Audience technology to power the feature.

Read Why Apple’s A5 is so big–and iPhone 4 won’t get Siri on CNET

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The results may not be what you would expect:

The study ran from December 1st through until December 15th, and shows that iOS isn’t as stable as its Android counterpart. There are some points of note, however, that should be discussed further in the future when talking about the stability of iOS and Android applications. First, iOS 5.01 was responsible for 28.64 percent of all crashes in the study. It’s not uncommon for applications on a new operating system to become unstable once a major new OS is released. That being said, iOS 4.2.1, and iOS 5.0 are both responsible for over 4 percent of all crashes, and iOS 4.1 weighed in at 8.24 percent of all crashes in the Critterrcism study.

Some thoughts

While the study provides some interesting insights into app crashes in both Android and iOS, it’s hard to put any weight in the results, and more importantly, it’s impossible to point a finger at which company, Apple or Google, should bear the brunt of the blame. There are just too many variables. First, of all the crashes, how many cases involved applications that weren’t updated to support new OS versions? Second, how many cases involved applications optimized for newer OS versions, but run on legacy hardware? We don’t have access to that information, and it’s that information that’s going to tell the whole story here.

The study does shed light on one thing very accurately, however. App Stores, while still in their infancy, need better mechanisms for weeding out applications that are no longer supported, and further, provide better information on what versions of an operating system an application supports. As a user, when I get a new phone, I’m heading directly to the App Store to download all of my favourite applications, and at no point am I considering whether the application has been optimized for my new handset yet. As a user, all I see is one of my favourite applications crashing a lot. That’s a huge problem for the majority of consumers.

Read Do iOS Apps Crash More Than Android Apps? A Data Dive on Forbes.

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In a bit of a twist, Datacolor is not calibrating the display on your iOS device like you would expect; instead, the Spyder calibrating tool determines the color profile of your iOS device, and then color corrects your photos using the SpyderGallery application. A Spyder device is required for the color correction, so if you don’t have one, you’ll have to purchase one.

It’s an interesting solution to the lack of display calibration granularity available in iOS. Given the possibilities of using the iPad as a portfolio viewing medium for photographers, designers, and artists, it’s a little disappointing that the iPad display can’t be color calibrated.

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In order to get the entire benefit from the tweak, you’ll need to install another tweak that lets you put more applications in your dock than normal. We recommend checking out Chpwn’s Infinidock to get that done.

Pick it up on the Cydia Store

Via: Cult of Mac

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All Things D is reporting that Path has managed to grow to 2 million users in just the two months since its relaunch. The path to one million took a full year, but growing from one million to two million took all of two months. Clearly Path is doing something right.

From All Things D:

As time goes on, I find myself wanting less of what Twitter and Facebook are offering, and more of what Path offers in a social network. Twitter is undoubtably great at reaching out and finding interesting new people to follow and interact with, but it doesn’t do a very good job of connecting me with people I know, and allowing me to interact with them in a personal, face-to-face social setting. Path limits you to only 200 followers, and forces you to really question whether or not people are worth following before you hit the follow button. Personally, if I’ve met you in real life, there’s a good chance I’ll follow you on Path. I use it in a different, more personal way than I do networks like Twitter and Facebook.

For some reason I have no problem sharing photos of my newborn daughter on Path, but avoid it at all costs with Twitter and Facebook, and that speaks volumes about the interactions I have with the people on Path versus other networks.

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Strange events … umm, WT actual F

Macotakara is saying that Apple’s going to hold a “strange” event in February that may be similar to the iBooks 2 and iBooks Author announcement that took place in January. There’s no mention of what will be announced, or even where or when the announcement will take place, just a mention of “strange” and February. Take that one for what it’s worth, because we’re still trying to figure out how “strange” plays into this whole rumor.

The iPad 3

In addition to the “strange” rumor, Macotakara (english) is also indicating that the iPad 3 will be announced in March. Which is great, because Bloomberg actually reported that on January 13, 2012. Traditionally, iPads have been released in the spring, and March foots the bill here. So the real question here is … Who wants to buy my iPad 2?

On the next-generation iPhone

This next rumor is a little hard to stomach. According to Digitimes, who has a track record worse than most other rumor blogs, the iPhone 5 is going to be released at WWDC in June, despite the iPhone 4S being on the market for just 8 months leading up to that point. Up until the 4S, Apple would release a new iPhone every single summer, but the 4S announcement slid into the fall. Digitimes is suggesting that we’re heading back to a summer release schedule, with two iOS devices being released within months of each other (March for the iPad, and June for the iPhone).

Wait, no iOS rumors?

If anything, Digitimes should be rumouring about WWDC and an iOS 6 preview. WWDC is where the next iOS often gets shown to developers. But nope, Chuck Testa iPhone 5 rumors.

Macgasm - Apple Tips, Apple News, Apple Everything.

That’s three fairly large talent acquisitions from the gaming industry over the last year. Not too shabby for a company that didn’t seem to have an interest in getting into the video game market when the iPhone first launched, and instead fell backwards into it with the creation of iOS.

According to a report from Flurry back in November 2011, iOS and Android now account for 58 percent of portable gaming revenue in the U.S. That’s huge considering Apple and Google have only really been in the gaming market for a couple of years compared to the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.

It gets worse for Nintendo:

Apple may have inadvertently stumbled into the gaming market, but you can be sure that the company is now doing its best to maintain dominance in the market.

Source: MCV

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Get your update on. Click on the Apple icon in your Menu Bar, then click Software Update. The patch may not be live just yet, but it is coming. It has been slowly rolling out across Apple’s servers.

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While the list of icons is limited — it comes with an Android logo but no Apple logo — it certainly lets you customize your status bar a little bit more than you could otherwise. The logos are high quality, so it will look pretty good once you relaunch your springboard.

What would make this even more awesome is having the ability to upload or add your own logos, not just select from the included alternatives. I’d like to be able to add a Macgasm logo to my status bar.

Via: iDownloadblog, iPhone Hacks

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The iPod nano is a fantastic device — I own one. But a camera it will never need, unless it’s front-facing, and the OS provides FaceTime support for all of us iWatch aficionados, which is pretty unlikely at this point. Apple’s put a camera in the iPod nano before, like the 5th generation device, but it’s important to note that it didn’t make it into the 6th generation device. Why? Our money is on the fact that no one actually used it. But that’s just a hunch, with no real basis, or confirmation from Apple. According to Engadget’s first-look at the fifth generation nano when it was released, it was really hard to tell how good a video was while reviewing it directly on the nano. Since then, the iPod nano has lost half of its screen real-estate, so it’s unlikely that video playback of any kind on the nano will yield any decent results. We guess the nano could theoretically get a “Retina” display, but even then, a camera seems pointless.  The current nano does have a photos app however, so multimedia creation on the nano may not be completely out of the question for Apple.

There are a number of things we would like to see in an iPod nano, like bluetooth support for my headphones, FaceTime support with a front-facing camera (a pipe dream), and the ability to get iOS notifications directly to my nano. Most of these wish list items have everything to do with the nano being used as a watch, and little to do with the needs of the majority of nano users, which is why they remain pipe dreams at this point. If anything, Bluetooth support is the one thing we can see the next nano getting over anything else.

Have a nano? Ask yourself this: would you take the nano out of your pocket to snap a picture or record some video? Have an answer? Good, check out the poll below. Inquiring minds want to know what you think about a camera in the nano.

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Simple. Elegant. Genius.

The MacHook is a Baltic Birch hook that adheres to the top of your iMac, and we’re guessing a Cinema Display as well, using “microscopic craters” instead of an adhesive to bond to your display, resulting in no sticky residue left behind if you decide to move the hook at a later date.

The MacHook comes in at $15.00, and you can pick it up on the Workerman website.

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The game is going to cost $4.99, but if it’s anything like the first version, and we hear that it is, the $4.99 is going to be a price well spent. Reckless Racing 2 now has 24 routes to play through, and 17 drivers to play as, including the original cast from Reckless Racing. There is also a multiplayer mode, so stay tuned for some macgasmic multiplayer goodness.

Via: Pocket Gamer

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While it was previously difficult to manage our team account while on the go, the iPhone application certainly increases the group management tool’s status for our mobile journalists. The application is free and it ties directly into the Wunderkit service. However, if you’re looking for a standalone ToDo list application, and have no intention of getting into Wunderkit, you should check out the Wunderlist and Wunderlist HD editions. They’re fantastic applications.

Quick Look at the App

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From Apple PR:

It’s pretty obvious that Apple is still listening to professional editors’ complaints about Final Cut Pro X. A lot of editors were extremely annoyed about the lack of support for many of these features when Apple made Final Cut Pro X available to editors last June.

The question at this point is whether or not these features are adding enough to stop editors from switching to competing products like Avid and Adobe Premiere. Some pretty hefty customers, like Bunmin/Murray Productions, have already moved to Avid because they felt that Apple didn’t understand its long term needs any longer. It’s an uphill battle at this point for Apple, and some are worried that the damage is already done.

However, updates of this magnitude will go a long way towards convincing Final Cut Pro fans to stick around a little bit longer and see how this all plays out before making the jump to competing products.

We’ll have more on this shortly, so stay tuned. You can also get more info directly from Apple.

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From China Daily:

The move would open up China Telecom’s 36.3 million 3G users to Apple. The China Daily report also suggests that Apple has received all three major operating licenses to begin selling the CDMA iPhone 4S to China Telecom customers. It should be an interesting year for the battle between Android and iPhone. There’s a lot of marketshare now up for grabs.

Macgasm - Apple Tips, Apple News, Apple Everything.

Starting today you can subscribe to a curated feed, which includes commentators like Hendrik Hertzberg, Erick Erickson, Rachel Maddow, Jared Bernstein, and David Horsey, alongside traditional news outlets like the Atlantic, Fox News, Daily Kos, the New Yorker, Al Jazeera, and a host of other sources.

All you have to do is add the sources you want to your feed, and you’ll be up to snuff politically in no time at all. Applications like Pulse do a great job of providing a mixture of news that I often neglect on a daily basis. My news feeds are very tech heavy. Having access to these kinds of event specific tie-ins within news reading apps is pretty huge. It makes following a particular topic very easy. Make sure you check it out.

If you are going to try it out, make sure you add us to your reading list as well. We’ve got a featured page you can check out!

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As of now there are two versions of AirPort Utility. Version 5.6 is a slight update to the AirPort that we’ve all grown accustomed to in OS X, and Version 6.0 is the edition that looks exactly like the iOS application.

This move is both brilliant and utterly confusing at the same time. It’s obvious that Apple’s looking to rid its iOS users of the confusion of using a second application on OS X, should they be accustomed to the iOS version of AirPort Utility. Instead of having to relearn the application in OS X, iOS users, who are likely using an Apple product for the first time, can jump in and configure their AirPort devices. On the other hand, it’s utterly confusing because there is now two very distinct ways to do one thing. That’s very un-Apple like.

Either way, it looks like Apple’s still committed to bringing things Back to the Mac, even if those things were never on the Mac to begin with.

The iOS-ification of OS X continues, and in this case, it’s not really a terrible thing. The iOS version of AirPort Utility is fantastic; however, the jury hasn’t even been selected yet, so clearly we have no idea what the verdict is on whether this is amazing or not.

We’ll keep you posted as we play more with it.

Article and Photo Via MacStories

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The amazing Zephyr, a jailbreak tweak from Grant Paul (chpwn), has hit version 1.1. Essentially the application replaces your home button with a series of gestures to switch apps (left-to-right), show the multitasking bar (swiping up) , or close an application.

While the application could easily be used to get around a broken home button, the functionality is slick enough that you may find yourself avoiding a functioning home button altogether.

Version 1.1 brings the following to the table:

• Swipe up to close apps
• Pause while swiping up to show the multitasking switcher
• Swipe to your ned app immediately with a side swipe
• Bug fixes, and performance improvements
• No more conflicts with Multicleaner

The tweak isn’t free. It will cost you $3.00 on the Cydia store, which means you have to be running a jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch.

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Anyone else get the feeling that this man could easily be the CEO of Apple at some point in the future? This guy embodies the Apple spirit, “An indicator has value when it’s indicating something, but if it’s not indicating something it shouldn’t be there.”

Sounds a little familiar, doesn’t it?

Update: Maxim Harper has pointed out that this clip is from a larger documentary called Objectified. He recommends it. We’re gonna check it out.

Macgasm - Apple Tips, Apple News, Apple Everything.

I hate to be that guy, but, nope, Siri isn’t gorging itself on all the mobile bandwidth.

The Washington Post ran an article last week that originally suggested that this was a problem:

We’ve been hearing the “network has limits” complaint for years, and it’s easily the biggest argument used by carriers and ISPs looking to increase revenues by introducing usage based billing in a number of countries. What the original Washington Post article didn’t do was provide any numbers, or facts to chew on. Instead, we’re left with the opinion of one journalist, largely based on the results of a study done by Arieso earlier this year. Ironically, the study in question primarily focuses on iPhone 4S data consumption on the whole:

Alright, so just to get this straight, Arieso says the iPhone 4S is one of the most data-hungry phones on mobile networks today, then The Washington Post decides to extend that argument to Siri, because Siri is available on the iPhone 4S, and it’s the first phone to get Siri integration. Paul Farhi, reporting for the Washington Post, states in his article, “Atlanta firm that specializes in mobile networks, found that the Siri-equipped iPhone 4S uses twice as much data as does the plain old iPhone 4 and nearly three times as much as does the iPhone 3G.” In one breath Farhi alludes to the fact that Siri is responsible for the huge bandwidth increase, and in the next he disproves himself, stating that the phone on the whole is responsible for the burst in data usage, and not Siri in specific. Great job. Journalism at its finest.

So, that brings us to today. Forbes has an article up online from Gary Morgenthaler, a partner at Morenthaler Ventures, and someone who also happened to serve on the boards of both Siri and Nuance Communications. Let’s just say that when it comes to Siri, this guy knows what he’s talking about:

So there you have it, using Siri will not ballon your data plan, it won’t cost you a tremendous amount of money in overage charges, and it’s certainly not responsible for the doom and gloom that Farhi is claiming. At this point we have to ask, did Farhi even read the report from Arieso? The synopsis on its website, had he taken a moment to read it, doesn’t even mention Siri at all.

Keep using Siri. It’s not going to bring down the whole mobile network, no matter what the carriers want you to believe.

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The track consists of Siri repeating the phrase “Wayne, I don’t understand… The Moon, The Stars, and The Sun” followed by Erykah Badu singing “and the moon, and the stars.”

But unlike in reality, Siri seems to have achieved autonomous thought, understanding the moon, the starts, and the sun by the time the experimental track reaches its conclusion. Who knows, maybe the Flaming Lips got Siri version 2.0, because the last time I tried sending a text message with Siri, all I got was the “I don’t understand” message over and over and over and over again. It probably won’t be long until we hear, “and the Grammy goes to … Siri!”

All kidding aside, the track is pretty interesting. Give it a listen.

Via The Verge

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The school board plans on purchasing 600 iPads for students this year, and another 800 iPads for next fall, all with cash from the settlement:

Something tells us that Microsoft hasn’t anticipated lawsuit winners using its cash to purchase products from its competitors. I wonder how many schools are going to be lining up with their own lawsuits now, hoping to pull off the same kind of coup.

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From The Tim Cook letter, according to 9to5Mac:

Apple has been increasingly open about their program implementations in China to help alleviate some of these problems. The company has even partnered with the Fair Labor Association to ensure transparency with their reports on the situation. Sadly, it seems that until journalists are actually on the ground and in these factories themselves, this human rights question is going to keep popping up.

Surely, for some, Tim Cook’s letter to his employees will just be lip service. But, it’s important to realize that Apple is taking large steps towards changing and rectifying the problems at Foxconn for an entire industry, not just themselves. That’s not something that will be fixed overnight. Hopefully Apple’s commitment to eliminating the poor working conditions at Foxconn will rub off on some of its competitors who also use Foxconn for their products. I don’t know about you, but it’s mighty curious that Microsoft, Sony, and Amazon are all extremely quite about the situation, despite having products made in Foxconn factories.

It sure sounds like a plan is in place to rectify the problem. Hopefully we’ll hear more about the results in the days ahead. I’d be lying if I said that the This American Life episode didn’t affect me. It certainly had me questioning whether or not the toll some people pay to bring us flashy new phones is worth it in the end.

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Clear for iPhone (Coming Soon!) from Realmac Software on Vimeo.

The ToDo list application is simple and elegant. It’s not trying to be an OmniFocus replacement, and that’s a good thing for most of us who only need a simple application to keep track of basic honey-do lists.

I’ve been using the application for a number of weeks now, and it’s certainly taking over my other ToDo list applications. Check out the video, and get your iTunes gift cards ready. You’re probably going to want to check this bad boy out when it ships.

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Neven Mrgan, of Panic, Inc. fame, and the man behind the graphics of the popular iOS game The Incident, decided to check his text messaging stats and provide some information about how deeply iMessage has disrupted his text messaging usage. As it turns out, his usage is down, way down:

He’s not the only one seeing the huge drop in SMS usage either. Jenna Wortham, a journalist for the New York Times Bits blog, has seen similar results:

As you can see, Wortham’s usage has also dropped off substantially. Bizarrely, my text-messaging usage hasn’t fallen off as steep of a cliff as that of Mrgan and Wortham, but I noticed two things. First, I don’t nearly use text messaging as much as I would have thought. Second, since buying my iPhone 4S, my text messaging usage has increased sharply.

Anyway, there was a drop off in my text messaging usage from September to October, and then it dropped off even more in November, only to explode again December. I’ve highlighted the month of October in red in the graph above. October was the month that iMessage was released to the masses in iOS 5. While my December usage exploded, there is a reason for that — on December 19th, I had my first child. Everyone, family and friends included, was getting in touch to see pictures and catch up. That would likely explain the explosion in my text messaging for the month of December. The real tell for me will be how January’s results fit into my pattern. I have a feeling it will be down around the November mark.

As you can see, iMessage has deeply impacted text messaging since its release. Sure, the results are based on the experience of only three people, but I’d be willing to bet that this is happening on a very large scale. If iMessage is ever opened up (it’ll never happen), Apple could completely annihilate a $20 billion dollar industry.

The sad thing is that this has nothing to do with the SMS technology being broken, and instead, it has everything to do with telcos being greedy, trying to absolutely cash in on the service. If these carriers are wondering why people are so happy about the drop in SMS usage, they just need to ask themselves why it costs $7.00 to send seven text messages with photo attachments in the last month. I’m not even going to figure out what that works out to per kilobyte, considering it’s astronomically ridiculous, and considering I have a data plan like every other smartphone user on the planet. I’m glad Apple released iMessage and frankly, if you have an iPhone and you still haven’t upgraded to iOS 5, you’re doing both yourself and your friends a huge disservice. Update your phone. I don’t want to see any more green chat bubbles in my Messages application.

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According to the company’s Twitter feed, Gemini will be launched “really soon” and Macpaw is in the “homestretch.” We’re pretty excited to see what comes out of all this pre-release buzz. What do you think? Twitter client? Check out the teaser video on their website.

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The Magnus iPad stand relies on magnets to keep your iPad upright, and pretty effectively turns your iPad into a monitor. If Apple made iPad stands, there’s a high likelihood it would look something like the Magnus.

At $49.95, the Magnus iPad stand comes in right where we expected it to, and at a median price compared to other alternatives on the market.

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Dominic Sunnebo, Global Consumer Insight Director, explains:

Many have stated for a while that an iPhone 4S announcement would help fend off Android growth. It looks like that may be occurring right now, but the real question here is whether or not the iPhone 4S can substantially widen the gap. We’re guessing that it won’t happen with the iPhone 4S, but it may happen with the iPhone 5 should everything remain the same between now and then. But, that’s the problem, isn’t it? Things never remain the same.

On another note

Here’s the deal: microcosmic analysis on market growth is starting to get a little bit stale. Release schedules and product announcements aren’t on a parallel timeline between companies. Leading up to the iPhone 4S announcement, Android growth was outpacing iPhone growth, and now that the iPhone 4S announcement has happened and the device has shipped, the tides are turning once again. This isn’t going to stop any time soon. Here’s my prediction: in four months we’ll be hearing that Android is beating the iPhone again, then once the next iPhone is announced and shipping, we’ll be right back here where we started. It’s not going to end any time soon.

Let’s keep some perspective. Looking narrowly at sales trends isn’t doing anyone any good. How about we start looking at year over year growth and measure success that way?

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I’m far from a code ninja these days, so I’m gonna let you guys let us know in the comments just how amazing this thing is for iOS. Inquiring minds want to know, so don’t hold out on us!

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Yesterday, NimbleBit employees were reaching out to the public via social networks, like Twitter, to provide comical and facetious comments on the events as they were unfolding. It’s pretty pathetic that a company with Zynga’s resources would stoop this low to make a buck.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about developers outright copying and stealing games, and rebranding them a little to sell them as new titles on the App Store. Most recently, Atari put pressure on Apple to remove “copycat” games from the App Store. In that case Apple removed Vector Tanks, a game that was an obvious rip off of Atari’s Battlezone game.

The sad thing is that this is hardly a new problem, but it is a major problem. There are a number of companies who have successful game titles on the App Store that have an eerie familiarity about them. Zygna isn’t the first to do it, and they certainly won’t be the last. The question, however, is whether or not Apple will protect Indie developers’ interests as much as they have a major company like Atari.

As it stands currently, Dream Heights is still available on the App Store (in Canada), and there has been no official word on if, or when, Zygna will have its game removed from the store.

There’s obviously a question to be considered. Where does game evolution and mechanic adoption begin and end? As an example, in some cases control schemes are borrowed or implemented across a variety of titles. The most obvious example is the original Gears of War control scheme. It didn’t take long for other developers to embrace the amazing control mechanics in their own projects. Figuring out where that kind of behavior is acceptable may be Apple’s next frontier in the App Store. Before long, the iOS App Store is going to turn into the Crap Store, as second rate ripoff apps continue to find ways into Apple’s playground. Heck, it’s not just games. Last week a Camera+ ripoff was approved and found its way into the App Store.

Note: The header image is only a portion of a huge graphic illustrating the similarities between the two games. Check this link for the entire thing.

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The price is a steal considering you not only get three hours of instructional video, but also 40 MB of layered Photoshop design templates to get you up and running quickly.

Our last bundle taught you how to build iOS apps; today’s bundle is going to teach you some great techniques on how to design your apps. If you’re serious about designing your own iOS applications, then this is the place to start.

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Speaking to Gamesutra, Imangi co-founder Natalia Luckyanova states, “the revenue immediately went up about 5x when we set the app free. Keeping it free was a no-brainer.” What’s not mentioned in the article is that Imangi has a number of in-app purchases available to gamers that range from $0.99 to $19.99. Essentially, gamers purchase coins that let them buy power-ups from the in-game store. While the barrier to entry is gone for most potential gamers, there’s still an avenue for making money in place.

Making the game free propelled the game to number two on the ‘top free app’ listing in Apple’s App Store. The move made by Imangi clearly illustrates the benefits of making your app free right from the beginning, and offering users the ability to purchase upgrades and premium features from directly within the application.

Interestingly, before reading this news, I had a conversation with some family members about games and apps they were loving on their iPhones currently. Every single one of them bemoaned paying for games, which surprised me a little. Personally, I have no problem paying a couple of dollars for an app, but it seems that on the whole paying for apps is not something most are willing to do these days. I’m starting to wonder if I’m in the minority. People want games and apps for free, but then seem to have no problem paying $19.99 for virtual in-game currencies. I’d rather pay $2.00 for the game up front, but that’s just me.

If you’re a developer, you may want to think about this news as a bit of a case study, and ask yourself if the psychological hurdle of charging $0.99 for your game is standing in the way of making some pretty serious coin. Temple Run has seen its download rate increase since going free, and more importantly its revenue has skyrocketed. You could be next.

You can read the rest of the interview over on Gamesutra.

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The top two spenders on the list? Amazon at a whopping $55.2 million, and Lowe’s (yeah, the hardware store) at $59.1 million. There’s a nice infographic put together on the WordStream website. We recommend heading over there and checking it out in its entirety.

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By swiping and holding, readers can flip through a book quickly and accurately to find key information buried deep in a book or magazine’s pages. If you thought iBooks was revolutionary, you need to check out the KAIST ITC implementation; it’s outright mind-blowing.

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Reckless Racing, the first edition, got huge props from the industry for its gameplay. If you haven’t played it yet, you may want to try it out first.

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